Mobil Weighs Appeal of Fire Ruling

Mobil Oil Corp. officials have not decided whether they will challenge a decision by a panel of four Superior Court judges that the company and one of its contractors must stand trial on criminal charges stemming from a 1988 fire.

The appellate panel overturned a ruling by South Bay Municipal Court Judge Thomas Allen that dismissed 171 misdemeanor counts filed against the oil company by Torrance City Prosecutor J. D. Lord.

Allen had ruled that Lord did not have jurisdiction to file the charges because the alleged violations at Mobil’s Torrance refinery already were being handled by inspectors from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

OSHA inspectors launched an intensive survey of the refinery after an Aug. 5, 1988, fire that injured two contract workers from Irwin Industries, which also faces criminal charges. Several of the counts charge that Irwin employees mistakenly opened an incorrect valve, allowing hot oil to spill out and ignite on a heated pipe.

The appellate judges concluded that both Lord and OSHA have jurisdiction because the refinery could be in violation of both OSHA regulations and the state’s Labor Code.

Mobil has until Nov. 9 to decide whether to ask a state appeals court to hear the issue.